Solar Cell Developments at PV Expo 2015
Among the highlights of the 8th International Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo 2015 is the technical conferences conducted by high-profiled professionals in the world of energy. These conferences aimed to refresh the knowledge of energy professionals in the latest trends within the industry. There were 10 PV-sessions, all in all, with special keynotes, which were held simultaneously alongside the exhibit.
Crystalline silicon solar cells, thin-film solar cells and high-performance organic solar cells – these are three hot topics mentioned during the PV Expo 2015 series of seminars. It is a major concern in the energy economy to stabilize the cost of electricity in photovoltaic systems. And two determining factors to address this issue is the efficiency of solar cells and their corresponding competitiveness against fossil fuels.
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells
The n-type silicon solar cell consists of high-quality materials. Moreover, it still needs more developments to grasp a solar process that is cost effective and results to efficient solar technologies. During the expo, Mr. Martin Hermle – head of High-Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells Development and Characterization of Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Solare Energiesysteme ISE, presented the latest approaches and new technologies in solar cells.
The latest development in one-sun and low concentration IBC solar cell-based systems when it comes to reliability and performance was also discussed by Mr. Mike Morse, the Director of Metallization & Litho, Cell Research & Development, Sunpower Corp. Here, he talked about how this improvement can help to reduce the levelized cost of electricity and promote wider adoption of photovoltaic systems.
And to respond to the changes and trials that come along PV’s market environment, Mr. Shingo Okamoto – General Manager of Eco Solutions Company, Panasonic Corp.’s Technology Development Group, Solar Business Unit, reviewed the latest technological trends as well as future potentials of high efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules.
Thin-Film Solar Cells
The current status of solar cells and Cu(InGa)Se2, CdTe and a-Si thin-film solar cells annual production were presented by Mr. Akira Yamada, professor of the Department of Physical Electronics of Tokyo Institute of Technology. He also described the future prospects of thin-film solar cells.
Aside from that, a roadmap for mainstream solar PV was also discussed by the CTO of First Solar, Inc, Mr. Raffi Garabedian. The CdTe thin film is one of the rising PV technologies today. With this, recent developments in core CdTe technology were presented in the conference and how these advances are made into modules.
CIS-based thin-film PV technology is another addition to the thin-film solar technologies today. It has superior structure, composition and performance as compared to the first-generation thin-film cells. However, its volume of production is still relatively small. Mr. Katsumi Kushiya, executive officer and general manager of Solar Frontier K.K.’s Intellectual Property Strategy Department talked about solar-PV products that incorporate CIS-based thin-film solar cells.
High-Performance Organic Solar Cells
Among the recent technologies in high-performance organic solar cells, are the completely solid-state high-efficiency DSSC which is suitable for indoor lighting and high-efficiency Perovskite Solar Cell.
A dye-sensitized solar cell has been developed by RICOH Co., Ltd, which consists of solid state materials perfect for indoor illumination. Mr. Shinji Ohtani, the company’s manager in Imaging Engine Development Division presented this innovation and the promising future of other photo energy harvesting devices.
Another emerging PV technology is the Perovskite solar cell. It is composed of organo lead halide light harvester, which is lower in cost and excellent in photovoltaic performance. It was presented by a professor of Sungkyunkwan University, School of Chemical Engineering – Mr. Nam-Gyu Park.
